Biography

Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir was born in Ísafjörður, Iceland where she studied piano, violin and singing from an early age. In 2003 she continued her music studies, majoring in singing at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik and graduated with a B.Mus. degree in 2006. Herdís continued her studies at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin where she graduated with a diploma in 2010 and finished her Konzertexamen in 2013. Then Herdís spent one year at the International Opera Studio at the Opera in Zürich, where she worked with artists such as Fabio Luisi, Ivor Bolton, Andreas Homoki, Brigitte Fassbaender, Luana de Vol and others.

Herdís has taken part in many opera productions in Iceland, Germany and Switzerland. Her operatic roles include Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), The Queen of Schemacha (The Golden Cockerel), Sophie (Werther), Nannetta (Falstaff), Oscar (A Masked ball), Romilda (Xerxes) and Musetta (La Boheme). She has received great praise for the operatic roles of Adele (The Bat) and Mabel(Pirates of Penzance), as well as the musical roles of Maria (West Side Story) and Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady).

Herdís has given solo recitals in Iceland and in Germany and also been very active on the concert stage, performing with e.g. at the Carl Orff Festival, with The Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra, The Saarland State Orchestra, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in Australia and The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra.

Since the autumn of 2013 Herdís Anna has been engaged as a solo singer at the Saarland State Theatre in Saarbrücken, Germany.